Buckle.



1, c. STAPLES BUCKLE.

APPLICATION HLED SEPT.2B. l9l6.

1,247,030. Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

JAGKISONHGJ 0Y PONTIAC, LEVIIQIIJISrAN.

, BUCKLE Application filed September 28,1916. Sria n'o. 12'2",679'.

To all whom it mag camera. f

Be it known that I, J giCKSON G. Smarties, a citizen of theUnitedStates, residingat Pontiac, in the county of Oakland and State ofMichigan, have inventedfce'r-tain new and useful Improvements inBuckles, of which thefollowing is a specification,reference-beinghadtherein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to bucklesadapted to join the endsofapparel-belts', harnessstraps, and the like, and generally' i'or usewherever a fastener of this kind is required, and it is an object of theinvention "to provide such a fastener with means whereby it will be easyto buckle and unbuckle, will reliably hold the connected parts together,and will present a neat appearance."

lVhen read in connection with the description herein, thedetails ofconstruction and arrangement of parts contemplated by the invention willbe apparent from the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, whereinan embodiment ofthe invention is disclosed, for purposes ofillustration.

lVhile the disclosures herein 110W are considered to exemplify apreferableembodiment of the invention, it is to be-understood that it isnot the intention to be limited necessarily thereto in interpretation ofthe claim, as various changes within the limits of the claims can bemade without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention.

Like reference-characters refer to corresponding parts in the views ofthe drawing, of which Figure 1 is a plan View;

Fig. 2 is a side view;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view.

Having more particular reference to the drawing, the buckle includes abase plate formed of two layers of material 5 and 6 riveted or otherwisesecured together. The plate is formed at or near one end with atransverse elongated opening 7 to receive a strap or the like wherebythe buckle is connected permanently thereto. At the opposite end, theunder or lower layer 5 is turned upwardly as a flange or abutment 8,which abuts and extends slightly over the end of the outer or upperlayer 6 at an acute angle toward th'eother end ,of'the buckle. I

Commencing at the free end, that'isthe end opposite to the opening 7,and extending only a part of the length of the base plate, the materialofthe outerlayer6 extends outwardly on each side and then'over'and insubstantially parallel relation to the contour of the plate, wherebythere are formed 'side walls ;9 and a' cover-wall 1,0 ofakeepercasing-closed at the sides and open at the ends. A :recess 11 isformed in-the edge'of the cover-wall opposite-to the free end of thebuckle and midway between the "sides. Each side wall 9 'at 'the' endopposite the free end of the buckle is cut away to form openrecesses12." In the vicinity of the atta ched end of the buckle, theouter layerti is upturned, to form a transverseiab t- Inent13. n a Akeeper 1 1,- of approximately the ';same length of'the keeper-.casing,'.is slidableon the base plate and "within and outwardly of the casing Ithas upstanding parallel marginal side flanges 15 that contact with thevSide walls of the casing and that are ofsu fli cient height to contactat their ed'ges'with the cover-wall ofithe casing,.whereby the keeper'isheld down on the plate. The outer faces of the flanges 15 are knurled orotherwise-roughened, as shown at"l6,j to afford a reliable hold to thefingers in moving the keeper, and the recesses 12 permit access theretowhen the keeper is entirely under the cover. The keeper has a fixedfastening-tongue 17 positioned substantially mid way of its sides at ornear the end opposite to the free end of the buckle, the tongue isdisposed at an inclination toward the permanently attached end of thebuckle, that is in a direction opposite to the direction of pull of astrap or the like against the mem ber permanently attached to thebuckle, and it can seat in recess 11 of the cover-wall of the casing.The keeper is held permanently on the base plate by the casing, by theabutment 13, which limits its outward movement from the cover, and bythe oppositely-disposed abutment 8, which stops its movement when it isentirely under the cover and prevents its detachment from the buckle atthe free end. The relative arrangement of the parts is such that, whenthe inner end of the keeper contacts with the abutment 8, the

tongue seats in and contacts with the edge of the recess 11, and, whenthe keeper is moved outwardly of the casing, it is stopped by theabutment 13 before it is entirely dislodged from the casing.

When it is desired to attach the end portion of a strap or the like tothe buckle, the latter is inserted through the casing at the opening atthe free end and passed over the keeper between its side flanges, and,the keeper now being at the outward limit of its movement from thecasing one of the apertures in the strap or the like is brought toengagement with the keeper-tongue. Then the keeper is drawn under thecasing, and the strap thereby is held down in reliable engagement withthe tongue. The inwardly-inclined flange or abutment 8 facilitates theinsertion of the strap or the like into the casing. Preferably, wheninser-.

tion is commenced, the keeper should be inside of the casing with itsend abutting the flange, so that there will be no liability of thestrap-end catching on the end of the keeper. Thereafter, as the strap ispushed through the casing, the keeper will be moved outwardly toposition with its tongue away from the end of the casing where it iseasy to bring the strap into engagement with the tongue. Owing to theinclination of the tongue in the direction opposite to the pull of thestrap or the like, the latter is not liable to become dislodged from thetongue after it is brought to engagement and during movement of thetongue to position against the end of the keeper-casing. The strainimposed on the tongue after the parts have assumed the locking positionis sustained by the flange 8 and by contact of the naeaoso tongueagainst the keeper-casing. Thus the tongue has two points of support,one at each endwhere it is connected to the base of the keeper and whereit engages the keeper-casing. Therefore, liability of the tongue beingbroken off by leverage action under great strain, as would be the caseif the pull was sustained only at the place of connection of the tongueto the-keeper, is obviated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A buckle comprising a base-plate having upwardly-projecting flanges atopposite ends and marginal side walls and a coverwall forming akeeper-casing, there being an open recess in one end of the cover-wall,a keeper slidable longitudinally within the casing between said endflanges and having upstanding parallel marginal side flanges abuttingthe side walls of said keeper-casing and operating on contact with thecoverwall thereof to retain the keeper On said base-plate, and anupstanding tongue fixed to said keeper and positioned to seat in saidrecess in the end of the cover-wall upon movement of the keeper in onedirection, the buckle being adapted to receive a strap between themarginal flanges of the keeper and under the cover-wall of thekeeper-casing and said tongue being adapted to extend into an opening inthe strap.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACKSON 0. STAPLES. Witnesses:

CHAS. MERZ, SARAH L. LosEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

